<Header>
<Author: 杜甫>
<Title: 韋諷錄事宅觀曹將軍畫馬圖>
<Format: 七言古詩>
<Year: 1940>
<BookName: Selection from the Three Hundred Poems of the Tang Dynasty>
<Translator: Soame Jenyns>
<TranslatedTitle: At the House of the Official Wei Fêng looking at the Paintings of Horses painted by General Ts‘ao>
<BookPage: 64-66>
<UsedPage: 3>
<Feature: 1, 4>
<End Header>
<Poem>
國初已來畫鞍馬，
神妙獨數江都王。
將軍得名三十載，
人間又見真乘黃。
曾貌先帝照夜白，
龍池十日飛霹靂。
內府殷紅馬腦盌，
倢伃傳詔才人索。
盌賜將軍拜舞歸，
輕紈細綺相追飛。
貴戚權門得筆跡，
始覺屏障生光輝。
昔日太宗拳毛騧，
近時郭家師子花。
今之新圖有二馬，
復令識者久歎嗟。
此皆騎戰一敵萬，
縞素漠漠開風沙。
其餘七匹亦殊絕，
迥若寒空動煙雪。
霜蹄蹴踏長楸間，
馬官廝養森成列。
可憐九馬爭神駿，
顧視清高氣深穩。
借問苦心愛者誰，
後有韋諷前支遁。
憶昔巡幸新豐宮，
翠華拂天來向東。
騰驤磊落三萬匹，
皆與此圖筋骨同。
自從獻寶朝河宗，
無復射蛟江水中。
君不見金粟堆前松柏裏，
龍媒去盡鳥呼風。
<End Poem>
<Translation>
At the beginning of the dynasty among those that painted saddle horses
There were none that counted as an inspired artist but Prince Chiang Tu;
But in the last thirty years it was the General’s forms which eclipsed all others.
Men saw again the real yellow horse depicted
When in times past he copied the former Emperor’s steed “White in the Bright Evening.”
For ten days thunder and lightning played over the dragon pool;
Within the palace there was a deep cornelian bowl,
The concubines of third and those of the fifth rank pass the order to their juniors to fetch it.
The cornelian bowl is bestowed upon the General and he gives thanks, dances, and returns home.
Light gauzes and fine silks rained upon him in one continuous stream
When the royal houses and the noble families secure his calligraphy.
For the first time they perceive their screens bathed in radiance.
Of ancient times T‘ai Tsung possessed a curly-haired horse
And of recent times the family of Kuo possessed a piebald steed;
To-day there is a new picture of these two horses.
When connoisseurs see it they sigh (with pleasure).
These two are war horses (capable of striving) each one against ten thousand.
(Behind them) the white silk stretches far away in wind and sand.
The other seven horses (are also painted with consummate skill),
There are cold mists beyond them, they move as in an atmosphere of sleet and snow;
Their frosty hooves beat the ground amidst the long avenues of catalpa trees.
The officials and the grooms that tend the stables stand in rows.
How it stirs the soul (to see) nine such horses striving for mastery:
Their glance is clear and noble,
Their poise effortless and eager-spirited.
May I ask you who has keen enough perception to appreciate these?
To-day there is Wei Pêng, yesterday there was Chih Tun,
Recalling the former imperial procession at the Hsin Fêng Palace.
It seemed as if their streamers of kingfisher feathers almost touched the skies as the cavalcade moved east,
Caracoling and curveting, thirty thousand horses, all with the bone and sinews you see in this picture.
Since the days when the emperors offered the river ancestors precious treasures
No more is there a shooting the dragons in the waters of the Yangtze.
See you not that to-day from among the pine and cypress before the hall of the “Golden Maize”
The dragon horses have all disappeared,
And there is only the note of the bird whistling in the wind.
<End Translation>
<Formatted Translation>
At the beginning of the dynasty among those that painted saddle horses
There were none that counted as an inspired artist but Prince Chiang Tu;
But in the last thirty years it was the General’s forms which eclipsed all others.
Men saw again the real yellow horse depicted
When in times past he copied the former Emperor’s steed “White in the Bright Evening.”
For ten days thunder and lightning played over the dragon pool;
Within the palace there was a deep cornelian bowl,
The concubines of third and those of the fifth rank pass the order to their juniors to fetch it.
The cornelian bowl is bestowed upon the General and he gives thanks, dances, and returns home.
Light gauzes and fine silks rained upon him in one continuous stream
When the royal houses and the noble families secure his calligraphy.
For the first time they perceive their screens bathed in radiance.
Of ancient times T‘ai Tsung possessed a curly-haired horse
And of recent times the family of Kuo possessed a piebald steed;
To-day there is a new picture of these two horses.
When connoisseurs see it they sigh (with pleasure).
These two are war horses (capable of striving) each one against ten thousand.
(Behind them) the white silk stretches far away in wind and sand.
The other seven horses (are also painted with consummate skill),
There are cold mists beyond them, they move as in an atmosphere of sleet and snow;
Their frosty hooves beat the ground amidst the long avenues of catalpa trees.
The officials and the grooms that tend the stables stand in rows.
How it stirs the soul (to see) nine such horses striving for mastery:
Their glance is clear and noble, 
Their poise effortless and eager-spirited.
May I ask you who has keen enough perception to appreciate these?
To-day there is Wei Pêng, yesterday there was Chih Tun,
Recalling the former imperial procession at the Hsin Fêng Palace.
It seemed as if their streamers of kingfisher feathers almost touched the skies as the cavalcade moved east,
Caracoling and curveting, thirty thousand horses, all with the bone and sinews you see in this picture.
Since the days when the emperors offered the river ancestors precious treasures
No more is there a shooting the dragons in the waters of the Yangtze.
See you not that to-day from among the pine and cypress before the hall of the “Golden Maize”
The dragon horses have all disappeared, 
And there is only the note of the bird whistling in the wind.
<End Formatted Translation>